Hillingdon concert supports slum children of Nairobi

A CHARITY concert at St Martin’s Church, West Drayton on Sunday.raised money for the Mukuru Promotion Centre and Nordoff Robbins.

Organised by music teacher Vincent Raven, 63, it included works by William Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, John Donne and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, plus some of Bach’s classical pieces.

The Mukuru project, named after a slum in Nairobi, educates children from the slums of Kenya.

Hilary Stone, a teacher at Heathrow Primary and a regular worshipper at St Martin’s, has worked closely with the Mukuru project since her school became involved in 2007, while John Hobbs was head
teacher.

The concert has been on the drawing board for six months, with Mr Raven and his wife, Rachel, organising the programme and donating the interval refreshments.

Mrs Raven also works at Heathrow Primary and both women have visited the project in Nairobi.

Hilary Stone said: “Whatever we give, we know exactly where the money is going.”

St Martin’s currently sponsors a child, Christopher Ombati, from the Mukuru slum, while some congregation members and Heathrow Primary teachers sponsor individual children personally.

British Airways is also a sponsor of the Mukuru project.

Nordoff Robbins is a charity that Mr Raven first encountered when he began teaching. It helps vulnerable children and adults in this country.

“Music therapy helps give those with physical and learning difficulties the freedom to achieve their tasks,” he said.

There were themes of love, remembrance and forgiveness in Mr Raven’s choice of readings, which were neatly threaded together.

The concer lasted two and a half hours, and there are hopes that it will be performed elsewhere to raise more funds and awareness for the charities.